


Early Departures

by aj_linguistik



Category: Sword Art Online (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Suicide, One Shot, Sad with a Happy Ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-18
Updated: 2018-10-18
Packaged: 2019-08-03 20:28:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,064
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16332923
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aj_linguistik/pseuds/aj_linguistik
Summary: "You are dead."Despite defeating Heathcliff in a duel, I find myself alongside Asuna, staring down at the world as it crumbles to pieces. Victory is bittersweet when it is also the end. But the end, it would seem, is just another beginning after all.





	Early Departures

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Okay, perhaps a little sad/morbid. Just a one-shot ramble about what I envisioned if Asuna and Kirito had really died on Floor 75 and that scene looking over Aincrad as it breaks apart was kinda their final moments. It's longer than I expected. I hope it's decent.

            As we stared out at the floating castle falling to pieces in the distance, I numbly wondered what would happen now that everything was over. Minutes before, I stood with friends and allies as I crossed swords with the man who started it all. I saw my life drain out of me, second by second, without feeling much at all. The fateful message appeared in my vision with the faintest chime.

            “You are dead.”

            By some happenstance or another, in my dying moments, I managed to send my enemy to his bitter end as well. Now, as what remained of him disappeared into the wind as glittering shards, I sat down on the edge of this inexplicable glass plane and dangled my legs over it above the clouds drifting calmly below us. Quietly, Asuna took her place beside me, her eyes never moving from the form of Aincrad crumbling.

            “What do you suppose this is?” she asked.

            If I had to be honest, I doubted we still sat inside of the game. We both lost all of our HP in the final battle; there would be no triumphant return to the real world for us. Death in this game, after all, was absolute. I avoided looking her in the eyes and stared down at my feet. From the edge of my vision, I saw her hair fall down in front of her. She must have been tilting her head to look at me.

            “Maybe it’s what we hope is happening,” I said quietly. “We hope that it’s over and everyone can go back home.”

            I finally glanced over to see her playing with her fingers in her lap.

            “You mean to say…” she started off, pausing awkwardly.

            I looked away again.

            “…we’re really dead, aren’t we?” she asked.

            Nodding slightly, I felt emotion welling up in my chest. I made a promise to her, and yet here we were. I promised that I would protect her and be there for her on the other side when we escaped. None of those empty words mattered now. We both gave up our chance to return home in that battle. Tears blurred my vision. Unable to help myself, I looked up at her and saw her worried, surprised expression. I threw my arms around her and pulled her close to me.

            “I’m sorry, Asuna,” I said.

            She wrapped an arm around me, lifted up my chin, and gently slipped her lips into mine. Her body was warm. Assuming we died, it struck me both pleasant and unusual that I could feel the heat coming from under her skin. When we pulled away from each other slowly, we locked eyes and she smiled at me.

            “I chose to protect you,” she said, pressing her palm against my cheek. “There’s nothing to be sorry about.”

            I placed my hand on the outside of hers and closed my eyes.

            “No,” I said. “I’m sorry for dying despite your sacrifice.”

            Her laughter rang out in the emptiness, filling it like music. I opened my eyes to see that she, too, was fighting tears. She used her thumb to wipe some of the tears from my cheeks. A small smile appeared on her lips.

            “At least tell me your name,” she said. “Before we go.”

            My eyes widened.

            “Ah, Kirigaya Kazuto,” I said, feeling a bit embarrassed. “I just turned sixteen not too long ago…”

            Asuna laughed again.

            “I can’t believe I’m older than you, Kirigaya,” she said.

            With heat filling my cheeks, I glanced around for a moment before meeting her gaze again.

            “Please…just Kazuto,” I said.

            Her cheeks tinged with the slightest bit of pink.

            “My name’s Yuuki Asuna,” she said, trying to compose herself. “It was a pleasure to meet you, Kazuto.”

            I reached over and placed my other hand on top of hers on the glasslike surface beneath us. The ring on her finger felt cold to the touch in sharp contrast to her warm hand. I once again found myself marveling at the fact that she wasn’t cold herself.

            “Likewise, Asuna,” I said.

            We locked our fingers together and leaned in once more. As our lips touched, a strange feeling overcame my body. I could feel myself fading away. In a breath, I would cease to exist on this glass plane in the sky, and so would she. But as I felt myself and the world around me vanishing, the warmth of her lips never left mine. When I opened my eyes again, we were standing on a bridge that covered a dark expanse. Candles lit the way forward.

            Asuna gripped my hand tightly and clung to my side. I almost laughed. She feared ghosts, but now, she easily qualified as one herself. Saying nothing, I urged her to walk forward with me. We walked on in silence. The air around us was foggy, so it was difficult to say just how long the bridge was. Minutes passed with no real change in anything save for the incline.

            “I wonder if we’re going the right direction,” I mumbled.

            Just as the words escaped my mouth, a larger amassment of light peeked through the fog. A few steps forward brought a small village area into view. It looked like a festival was going on. The streets held numerous bustling people, laughing, crying, and talking as if nothing unusual had occurred. Asuna took a look from behind me and shuddered a little, probably thinking about the fact that everyone here was a ghost.

            “Not to scare you, but I’m technically a ghost, too,” I said to her.

            She tensed up for a second and then relaxed.

            “I suppose you’re right,” she said. “Do you think we just…mingle in?”

            My mouth opened to give an answer, but I stopped myself. I knew just about as much as she did. It was probably a good idea to ask someone for help, at this point. I took a deep breath and stepped into the village. A group of people were talking amongst themselves in a little sitting area. I reached over and touched the shoulder of the girl sitting closest to us.

            “Um, excuse me, but we’re kind of lost,” I said.

            The girl turned around and we both regarded each other with numb shock. From behind, she’d been unrecognizable, but from the front, her face looked exactly as I’d last seen it—telling me goodbye in a trapped room in a dungeon back in Aincrad. She recovered from the shock first, gave me an apologetic smile, and then bowed her head.

            “You didn’t get out either, then, Kirito,” she said.

            Asuna glanced between us, confused as the exchange for a brief moment. Her eyebrows raised in realization. She had never met my former guild, since they had all died two years prior due to my mistakes, but I recounted the story to her once.

            “Sachi…” I said.

            Smiling, Sachi turned to Asuna and politely bowed. Feeling a bit awkward, Asuna bowed as well.

            “Who’s this?” Sachi asked.

            I swallowed.

            “This is Asuna,” I told her. “My wife.”

            Sachi didn’t seem to understand at first, based on the surprised look on her face. She frowned at me, as if looking for something there.

            “How long has it been?” she asked.

            I waved one hand, realizing she assumed I’d exited the game and gotten legally married. I’d introduced Asuna as my wife out of a newly formed habit. She was giggling to herself by my side, realizing the mistake as well.

            “We were married in SAO,” Asuna said, clarifying for me. “Sorry, we’ve only just gotten here. We’re new to this.”

            “Hey, Sachi, who are you talking to?”

            The three of us looked up and I felt my stomach sink. It was amazing how even after dying, I still felt things the same way I did in life. Talking to Sachi gave me enough guilt about the sorrowful demise of the Moonlit Black Cats, but seeing this boy’s face increased that feeling a hundredfold. Unlike the others, whom I had seen die fighting, he had thrust himself off of the railing of Aincrad, ending his own life after hearing that I was the sole survivor.

            “Keita,” I said.

            I averted my eyes. Asuna gave me a funny look, probably worried that I didn’t feel okay talking to this group after what happened. Not wanting to cause any tension, I quietly turned and walked away from the group, figuring that when Asuna got the information we needed, she would follow after me. However, an arm reached out to stop me.

            “Kirito, wait.”

            Keita’s voice didn’t sound angry; it was, however, firm. I lowered my head and turned around to face him, keeping my eyes on the ground. My desire to be polite conflicted with my inability to look him in the eyes. The guilt of shouldering the blame for his suicide weighed too heavily for me to stand. I numbly dropped to my knees and buried my face in my hands, refusing to catch his gaze. I let out an unwilling sob.

            “I’m sorry, Keita,” I said. “I’m sorry I lied.”

            My stubborn lie cost his entire friend group their lives. Saying sorry didn’t make up for that in any way. It would not return them to the real world to allow them to finish their lives. That foolish decision came with a heavy price, one I couldn’t have ever predicted at the age of fourteen. Keita placed a hand on my shoulder and I looked up from my hands to see him crouching down in front of me.

            “There’s nothing to apologize for,” Keita said. “You tried. I couldn’t see that then, but you tried to save them. That’s all that needs to be said about it.”

            The pressure of his hand on my shoulder disappeared. When I looked up again, Keita was gone. A different hand lighted on my shoulder from behind. I tensed up a little and turned to see who touched me. Asuna smiled at me, offering a quiet apology for startling me. She offered me a hand and helped me back to my feet.

            “Let’s just walk around for a bit,” she said. “It’ll help you calm down.”

            She didn’t reopen the topic of my old guild. Even now, it remained too sensitive of a topic to approach. We walked on in silence, simply taking in the strangely familiar world around us. Everyone seemed lively despite being dead. At some point, she reached over and grasped my hand tightly. As we walked past what looked like a restaurant of some sort, a bit of dialogue caught my ear and I stopped in my tracks.

            “What is it?” Asuna asked.

            I tilted my head a little and glanced through the doorway. A couple with their backs to us thanked the owner for their meal. The owner, pleased that his customers felt satisfied with their service, in turn thanked them for their business and told them to come again anytime they liked. The woman laughed and let him know that they would, and then they turned and stepped outside. My eyes met the man’s and he gave me a funny look.

            “Can we help you, kid?” he asked.

            It was obvious from the way the couple looked at us, they pitied us. Even for a couple as clearly young as they were, a pair of teenagers in the afterlife must have hurt their hearts a little. My mouth refused to work for a brief moment.

            “I…couldn’t help but overhear,” I said. “But, was your name Narusaka?”

            Asuna gave me a confused stare. The man and his wife raised their eyebrows in surprise and shared a curious glance. He nodded, unsure of what else to say to that. I found myself shaking a little, having confirmed his surname.

            “How did you die?” I asked.

            “Kirito-kun!” Asuna said, tugging at my arm. “That’s rude!”

            Amused, the couple burst into laughter at Asuna’s comment.

            “No, no, it’s quite alright,” the woman said. “It’s not rude to ask. We died in a car wreck fifteen years ago. Yukito and I and our infant son were on our way to my sister’s home in Saitama. I don’t really remember much, we died on impact.”

            Despite the couple seeming fine with describing their death, Asuna seemed to be rather uncomfortable with the topic. I, on the other hand, knew the story from a different angle. Before I could speak, Asuna offered her own words.

            “I’m very sorry,” Asuna said. “A baby in a car wreck…that sounds awful.”

            The woman nodded.

            “Fortunately, we’re certain he lived,” she said. “His soul didn’t follow us.”

            Now the woman looked a little heartbroken. The man, Yukito, wrapped an arm around her shoulders and held her close to him.

            “We’re happy to know our son survived and got to live his life,” Yukito said. “But as a mother, Aoi still misses him. We barely had a year to spend with him before we died. It’s never easy for parents and children to be separated.”

            Asuna squeezed my arm, likely thinking of her own parents.

            “You’ll see him again someday,” she said softly. “Won’t they, Kirito-kun?”

            I couldn’t bring myself to say anything. My eyes were fixated on the couple in front of me. I lifted one shaky hand up, wanting desperately to force words out of my throat. Asuna looked up at me and frowned.

            “Kazuto?” she said, this time using my real name to try and grab my attention.

            Aoi looked at me, her distress vanishing to be replaced with confusion.

            “What was your name again?” Aoi asked.

            I swallowed.

            “K-Kirigaya Kazuto,” I said.

            She took a step away from Yukito and cautiously reached out to touch my face. Her eyes squinted a little as she examined my eyes, nose, and cheeks. Aoi blinked a few times, looked me up and down, and then her eyes widened.

            “Is that you, Kazuto?” she asked.

            Asuna glanced between myself and Aoi, entranced by the interaction. Yukito took Aoi by the shoulder and gently tried to pull her away from me.

            “Aoi, what’s the matter?” Yukito asked.

            She glanced back at him for a brief moment, turned back to me, and pressed her free hand to her mouth as she fought back a sob.

            “You’ve got my eyes,” she said softly.

            I felt my heart leap into my mouth.

            “Mom?” I said.

            Aoi wrapped her arms tightly around me, finally embracing me after fifteen long years. I awkwardly looked up at Yukito, who finally realized what was going on and was fighting tears himself. When Aoi let go of me, Yukito grasped my by the shoulders and took a good look at my face as well.

            “You’re right, Aoi,” he said. “He does have your eyes.”

            Asuna, overall baffled by the situation, stepped forward and tugged on my sleeve, all the while casting odd glances at the couple crying over me. I laughed a little and rubbed my eyes, which were rather damp, now that I paid attention to them.

            “I’m sorry, Asuna,” I said. “My parents died in a car wreck when I was a baby, so…”

            Her eyebrows raised as she connected the dots.

            “So…Mr. and Mrs. Narusaka are…your mom and dad,” she said.

            Aoi grasped my chin and turned my head to face her again.

            “You’re so tall,” she said, laughing. “Well, perhaps average, but the last time I saw you, you fit right in my arms. Just look at you! And who’s your friend here?”

            She nodded at Asuna.

            “Oh, um, this is Yuuki Asuna,” I said. “She’s, uh, my girlfriend.”

            Aoi gasped a little and excitedly bowed in Asuna’s direction.

            “It’s a pleasure to meet you,” she said. “I would have loved to meet your parents. I hope our son has been decent to you.”

            Asuna, suddenly flustered, waved her hands and giggled.

            “He’s wonderful!” she said. “A tad mischievous, but he’s brilliant and kind.”

            Yukito elbowed me and gave me a knowing nod, although I wasn’t sure what it really meant. As I watched my mother chat about me with my girlfriend, I was struck with the odd notion that the parents who had raised me, my aunt and uncle, would never meet Asuna, nor would I meet her parents.

            “Since you were ever-so-forward in asking us,” Yukito said, “would you mind explaining how you two came here?”

            I blinked and looked up at him, frowning.

            “We left the world early because of an accident,” he said. “It’s a tragedy to see young lives with so much potential end so abruptly. And while it means the world to Aoi and I to finally see you, after fifteen years, it’s heartbreaking to know that our son died at sixteen.”

            I gazed over at Asuna and Aoi, who were still chattering away like old friends who hadn’t spoken in ages. The two stopped and looked at us, likely wondering why my face looked so sullen.

            “Two years ago, we were trapped, as weird as it sounds, in virtual reality,” I said. “The headsets we used were rigged to kill us if we either died in the game or if someone tried to remove the headset externally. We both died fighting the man who trapped us all there.”

            I covered my face with one hand and sighed.

            “It’s a rather pathetic way to die, I guess,” I said.

            Asuna reached over and grasped my other hand, squeezing it tightly.

            “By fighting the commander, you saved over six thousand people from death, Kirito,” she said. “If you ask me, that’s not a pathetic way to die. Even though you didn’t survive yourself, more than six thousand people.”

            She pulled me into a hug and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek.

            “You died a hero, Kirigaya Kazuto,” she said. “And we are all proud of that fact.”

            Yukito and Aoi placed their hands on my shoulders. I glanced back at each of them to see them smiling. Closing my eyes, I wrapped my arms around Asuna and whispered my thanks into her ear. She reached up and gave me a long kiss. I was grateful that this time, we wouldn’t both disappear.

            “I’m glad I get to spend an eternity with you,” she said.

            I smiled and touched my forehead to hers.

            “Me, too, Asuna.”


End file.
